Improvement in apparatus for lighting and extinguishing gas by electricity



UNITED STATES PATENT GEEIGE.

JACOB P. TIRRELL, OF OHARLESTOWN, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE F. PINKHAM,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FR LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING GAS BY ELECTRICITY.

Specification iorming part of Letters Patent No. 121,302, dated November 28, 1871 antedated November 17, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB l). TIRRELL, of Charlestown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Apparatus for Lighting and Extinguishing Gas by Electricity, of which the following' is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying' drawing making part of this speciiication, in which- Fignre l is a front elevation of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is an elevation of one side of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation ofthe opposite side. Fig. #l is a vertical section on the line .t .fr of Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is an elevation illustrating the course of the electric currents. Fig. T is a rear elevation of the switch. Fig. S represents the cover or casing which incloses the apparatus. Fig. 9, sectional detail.

My invention relates to that class of apparatus in which two separate wires are employed alternately, one for letting on and the other for shutting ofi the gas 5 and consists in the employment oi' two electro-magn ets, operated alternately, in combination with a mechanism connected therewith for letting on and shutting olf the gas, and operating a switch or equivalent device for breaking the circuit through either one of the electro-magnets and causing the current to pass to the next apparatus, one apparatus only at a time being included in the electric circuit 5 and my invention also consists in certain details, which will be fully described hereafter.

To enable others skilled in. the art to understand and use my invention, l will proceed to describe the manner in which T have carried it out.

In the said drawing, A represents the Iraniework of the apparatus, to the lower portion of which are secured two electro-magnets, B @,the armatures a I) of which are secured to two arms, o d, projecting from opposite sides of a roekshaft, l), having its bearings in the frame-work and a standard, E. To the arm c is pivoted a bar or connecting-rod, c, near the upper end of which is a projection, l5, which is secured, by means of a spring connection, j", to the lower end of the stem g of the valve h, through which the gas is admitted to the burner G. The npper end of the bar e fits into and slides within a recess in the framew ork which serves as a guide,

and this bar e is alternately raised and lowered, to open and close the valve h, by the shaft D, which is rocked as the armatures a b are alternately attracted by their respective electro-inagnets. The spring connection fis for the purpose of insuring the tight closing of the valve 7b as the bar c is drawn down. From the upper side of the rock-shaft D projects an arm, H, the upper portion of which is provided with an open slot, 16, in which fits the horizontal portion of a pin, c', both ends of which are secured to a rockshait, j, having its bearings in a support or hanger, 1, and thus as the shaft D is rocked its niotion is communicated to the shaft j. To this latter shaft is secured a lever, k, at one end oi' which is a toothed segment, 17, which engages with a pinion, Z, on a shaft, ym, which also has its bearings in the support I. To this shaft is permanently secured a balance-wheel, J, from the inner face of which project two pins, 1S 19, which,when the wheel is rotated back and forth through the connections described, strike alteruately against the opposite sides of a projection on the end of a slide, n, attached to a switch, K, which is thus moved forward and backward at the required times for a purpose to be hereafter described.

ln order to prevent any recoil of the wheel J after either of its pins has been brought into contact with thc slide n, which would prevent 1 the complete shutting o" of the gas, T employ the following device: p is a wheel, turning loosely upon the shaft m and held thereon by a friction-clutch, q, Figs. :l and 9, composed of a bent spring, secured to a pin projecting from the side of the wheel p, the two ends of the spring enibracing the shaft m, and the desired amount of friction being produced by turning a screw, 20. r a spring, which bears upon the periphery of the wheel p and serves as a brake to prevent the mechanism from being moved by the tendency of the wheel J to recoil, or the force exerted by the spring connection j" when the stem of the valve li is drawn down. By means of this device, when the motion of the wheel J is suddenly arrested by one of its pins coming into contact with the slide fu, the wheel p, by its momentum, overcomes the resistance of the frictionclutch q and turns upon the shaft ym, and, being connected therewith by the clutch q and provided with the brake fr', serves to ei'ectually prevent times.

the wheel J from recoiling as it would otherwise do when suddenly stopped.l

I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the electric current is caused to pass through the apparatus for the purpose of operating the electro-magnets B G and causing the gas to be let on and shut oft' at the required The parts being in the position seen in Fig. l (the gas being shut off) the electric current enters the apparatus at 2l and passes by the wire s to a metallic plate, t, secured to an insulating block, L, of hard rubber or other suitable material. To the plate t is pivoted at 22 a narrow plate, 23, which is also pivoted at its upper end to a bar, 24, of hard rubber, or other suitable material, which is pivoted at 25 to the block L and forms the outer portion of the switch K. The current now passes through the plate 23 to a metallic plate, a, secured to the surface of the insulating block L; thence, by a wire, fu, to the electro-magnet C, after passing through which it is conducted by the wire -w to the framework; and thence, by the gas-pipcor the ground, back to the battery, when the circuit is completed, and the armature Z1 is attracted by its magnet, which rocks the shaft D, and, through the connections described, raises the stem g, and opens the gas-valve lzy to its full extent. The same movement of the shaft D also rotates the wheel J in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 5, and causes the pin 18 to strike and move the slide u which vibrates the switch K into the 'positionseen in Fig. G. The current cannot now pass from the wire 8 to the plato a and wire v as the plate 23 is no longer in contact with the plate yu, and the circuit through the electro-magnet C is thus broken. The current then passes from the plate 23 to a plate, a', on the block L opposite to the plate a, and thence, by a wire, I), to the next apparatus, where the same operation is repeated, and so on throughout the whole series of lamps; one apparatus only being included within the circuit at a time, the electric current passing from one to another' in succession until it has passed through the entire series, the gasvalve h of each apparatus being left wide open,

as required. As soon as the gas is let on it is ignited by electric sparks in a manner which will be fully'described hereafter. When it is desired to shut oft' the gas another wire, c', is employed the current from which passes to a plate, d', thence, by a narrow plate, e, secured to the inside of the bar 24, to a plate, ff,- and by the wire gc to the electro-magnet B, after passing through which it is conducted by the wire h' to the frame-work, and thence by the gas-pipe or ground back to the battery, when the circuit is completed and the armature a is attracted by its magnet which rocks the shaft D in the opposite direction to that above described for the purpose of closing the gas-valve h and extinguishing the gas. This movement of the shaft to the wire gc as the plate c is no longer in contact with the plate j", and the circuit through the electro-magnet B is, consequently, broken. The current then passes from the plate e to a plate, It', on the block L opposite to the plate f', and thence, by a wire, 26, to the next apparatus where the same operation is repeated, the current passing successively from one apparatus to another until all of the lamps are extinguished. This last movement of the switch K leaves the plate 23 in contact with the plate u, so that a current can be again sent through the wire s and electro-magnet C to open the valve h, as before described. The plates 23 and e are arranged on the inside of the bar 24: in the manner seen in Fig. 7, so as to prevent their coming into contact with each other as the switch is moved. It will thus be seen that the breaking of the circuit through the wire s and electro-magnet C will not only cause the current to pass onto the next apparatus, but will leave the electro-magnet B connected with the other wire c', through which a current may be transmitted at the required time, while the breaking of the circuit through the wire c and electro-magnet B will cause the current to pass onto the next apparatus, and, at the same time, leave the electrof magnet C connected with the wire s; the wires s c being thus used alternately, one to carry the current for opening the gas-valve, and the other the current for closing it. The electric current which produces the sparks for lighting the gas passes from one pole of the battery by the wire la to the primary coils M, which produce the sparks, and are placed near the top of the apparatus in close proximity to the burner. After passing through the coils M the current passes bythe wire l to the insulated rod or post N, to the upper end of which are secured two light springs, m m', which are held in place by a plate, 27, and screw, 28, so that they can be adjusted or replaced at small cost when worn out. The other pole of the battery is connected through the frame-work with a sliding rod, O, near the upper end of which is a pin, n', which is raised andlowered in a manner to be presently described 5 andthus, when the contact between the pin u. and springs m m is made and broken, as the rod 0 is raised the sparks are produced, as required. The gas is admitted to the apparatus at P and passes up through a passage formed in the frame-work A to the pipe Q, to which the burner G is attached. This pipe Q is surrounded near its upper end with an insulating disk 2R. Connected with the pipe Q, below the valve h, is an auxiliary burner, S, the small orifice at the top of which is closed by a valve, p', attached to the upper end of the rod O, and this valve is kept closed upon its seat by a spring, g, attached to the rod and the framework. T is a pawl or detent, which is pivoted to an arm, 29, secured to the armature a. The upper portion of this detent is guided in a slot cut in the frame-work, and when the parts are in the position seen in Fig. l its point drops into a notch, 30, in the rod 0, in which position it is held by a light spring, 3l. As the armature a `made and broken as the rod O is raised.

is raised by the descent of the armature b the detent T is raised and with it the rod O, which opens the valve p and allows the gas to escape from the auxiliary burner, which is instantly lighted by the :sparks produced by the contact between the pin a and springs m m', being The orifice through which the gas escapes from the auxiliary burner is on one side only of the valve p,viz., on the side to which the pin n is attached, so that the gas as it escapes will flow directly up to the point where the sparks are produced. At the same time that the auxiliaryburner is lighted the valve 71. is opened and the 'gas issuing from the main burner G is instantly ignited from the iiame of the auxiliary burner. A pin, s, at the end of the lever 7c now strikes an incline, 32, on the detent T and throws its point out of the notch 30 in the rod O, thus releasing the latter, when it is drawn down by the spring q', which closes the valve p and extinguishes the auxiliary jet. Instead of the lever 7s with its pin s being used for throwing the detent T out of the notch 30 a stationary incline maybe employed,against which a pin on the detent may strike as the latter ascends.

By the employment of two electro-magnets, as above described, but a single motion of the shaft l) to which 'the armatures are secured is required to light or extinguish the gas, which operations can, consequently, beperformed in a much shorter space of time than where a ratchet-wheel revolved by a single electro-magn et is employed, while the mechanism does not require to be made with as much accuracy and is, consequently, less expensive and less liable to get out of order.

l do not conne myself to the particular mechanism shown for t 1ansmitting the motion of the shaft I) to the switch and gas-valve as it is evident that it may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

T he apparatus is surrounded byaconical sheetmetal cover or casing, U, Fig. 8, which serves to exclude dust and moisture.

What l claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The two electro-magnets B G, operated alternatel y, in combination with a mechanism connected therewith for operating the gas-valve h, and a switch, K, or equivalent device, for breaking the electric currentthrough either one of the electro-magnets and causing the current to pass to the next apparatus, substantially as described.

2. The electro-magnets B C and pawl T with its releasing device in combination with the rod O, pin n', one or more springs m m', and the auxiliary burner S, with its valve p', all operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the electro-magnets B C, the rock-shaft D,and connecting-rod `@,for operating the gas-valve l1., substantially as described.

4. The combination of the lever 7c with its toothed segment 17, operated by the electromagnets B C, the pinion l, shaft on, loose wheel p, brake fr, friction-clutch q, and the fast wheel J, with its pins for actuating the switch K, all constructed to operate as and for the purpose set forth.

Vitness my hand this 26th day of April, A. D.

JACOB P. TIRRELL. Witnesses P. E. TEsoHnMAcHER, W. J. CAMBRIDGE. 

